Times that the series did genuine foreshadowing?

[Rafa Fast]

So, not sure if there's already a thread about this, or if I'm using the correct term for it.
Well, we all know how Tori never tried to have planning for the future of the series, later arcs are mostly made in attempt to answer something from the past ones, or the arcs usually are events that can be a consequence from previous events, but the previous events never tend to foreshadow what's going to happen next, and I'm talking about of actually showing something that will appear or happen in the next arc, because ending a arc and then say "A New Baddie will appear!" (As it was in the end of Saiyans arc) Is super easy, but what about actually showing the villain or something? Or have Baba say that Goku would save the world, like wow, of course he would do that some day, multiple times! Save the world against who? Name of the guy?
To this day, There are 3 arcs in the series which ends following directly to next one.

The 22th TB ends with the Piccolo Daimaoh arc starting right after, but nothing during the TB or before it foreshadows that a Green Demon "Alien" would try to conquer the world.

The Saiyans arc ends with the Freeza arc starting right after, but nothing during the Saiyans arc foreshadows that a horned small alien guy woth a army would be the villain in the next arc, and that he would want the dragon balls.

The ending of Moro arc and beginning of Granolah arc are totally connected, but nothing during the whole Moro arc foreshadows something about the Hittas or Granolah and his race.

Of course, there are times were Tori really tried to dig into the idea, while The Saiyans arc doesn't foreshadow Freeza or anything else from his arc, Saiyans and the 23th TB do foreshadow the Namekusejin, Namekusei and their Dragon Balls, and the fact that Namekusejin do have connections with the DBs, that's what I'm talking about, it doesn't need to show something, just saying a name, giving a description and details is enough, establish a concept, a name and all, the series hardly tries to do that.
There are times that Tori even tries to turn into reality something from the past, or revealing a old mystery, but some times, it fails, as the reveal of who trapped Dai Kaioshin inside the Z sword, the reveal fails, since Dai Kaioshin says that the guy wasn't stronger than Boo, and the guy was Beerus...
There are also the foreshadowings that can't count or are unfair, a unfair foreshadow for example is Goku seeing Baba and Grandpa Gohan in the Karin Tower in the mid-end of RR arc, the scene doesn't exist in the manga and the manga was already near to the end of the 22th TB when the episode came out, that was pure luck.
And one foreshadowing that doesn't count is Cell's exoskeleton, I would give if it was introduced in idk, beginning of the Androids arc or at least before the awakening of 17 & 18, but when the thing was introduced, right after it, Cell already shows up, and when he vanishes and the fight between Piccolo & 17 happens, we all know that Cell is the true threat and no more the Androids, so no, that is just made to build up tension.
Some times the series even tries to push it, as saying that Goku was always training the Ultra Instinct since the beginning, but c'mon, absolutely nobody knew it until Super came with that, there was no name, description or anything that could make us believe that such thing could exist (I think there's a term for this, but I don't know it), the true foreshadowing for the UI happened only in RoF (or Super in Ep 5? Not sure).
So I pretty much want to know every time that the series did true foreshadowings, as Saiyans and 22th TB did with Namek or as RoF did with UI, hints, something, aside from the ones I've already mentioned, by now I can only remember of 5:

1-Zarbon stating that Freeza can transform before the Ginyu Tokusentai even appear.
2-Super Saiyan (mostly anime-wise)
3-Roshi in RR arc saying that there's a God of the Earth and that he created the Dragon Balls (Anime-only, despite of its contradictions)
4-Beerus stating that there's other 11 Universes with a Hakaishin in each one of them.
5-Gohan's Potential (mostly anime-wise, despite of some doubts)
Honorable mention - maybe Toppo's Hakaishin form in the anime hinted at Vegeta attaining the Ultra Ego form?

Also yeah, I'm not counting the characters in early DB saying that Goku isn't from Earth, that he's a Alien and all...as I said, it needs at least a name or description, saying that someone or something is this and that is easy.
Also I'm not judging Tori's decisions, he wanted to write the series in this way, it doesn't suck, I just really want to give the spotlight to these moments of the series, which are really rare.
Thanks to anyone who contributes.

[Zephyr]

Super Saiyan Gohan and Perfect Cell debut a literal page apart. In hindsight, that feels to me like a conscious and deliberate foreshadowing of their eventual fight.

[Vijay]

Not everythin needs to be spelled out. Statin Goku will be fight green alien at TB or space alien at Namek kills any sorta hype or expectations

Goku was destined to fight Piccolo jr at TB. Stated by Popo & kami.

If we go earlier, Baba told as early at pre-22nd TB that Goku would save the earth. It could mean against Daimou, Piccolo Jr or both.

Kaoi said by defeatin Vegeta doesnt mean root of evil is gone...suggestin Frieza is out there

[90sDBZ]

Actually the Saiyan arc does forshadow Frieza, with King Kai mentioning "the root of this evil" right after Vegeta is defeated. It also reveals Piccolo and Kami to be Namekian, and several characters mention the idea of going to Namek later.

Baba and Grandpa Gohan are forshadowed during Goku's time at Korin's place, when he opens the barrel that shows the future.

Krillin's 1st death is forshadowed perfectly right before it happens, with Goku knowing something is off. That scene is so ominous and forboding.

Cell's appearance is forshadowed by Kami's sense of unease.

Goku's death is sort of forshadowed, with him going out of his way to spend time with his family prior to the Cell Games, and even him saying to Krillin that these times are important.

Vegeta going Majin is forshadowed by Supreme Kai's line about Babidi's powers to enslave those with evil in them, and again by Vegeta's attitude throughout their time on the ship.

GT forshadows SS4 during Goku's first fight with Baby. The camera keeps focusing on a strange yellow glow in his eyes while he's getting beat down.

Also the Shadow Dragons are repeatedly forshadowed during the Super 17 arc, with the Dragon Balls shown to be cracked, Piccolo sensing a strange force working against them, and the natural disasters that occur towards the end. Even the Baby arc ended with a closeup of a Dragon Ball, so the idea must have been conceived pretty far far back. This forshadowing is all really well done, and is a nice redeeming quality for GT.

[jjgp1112]

Piccolo and Kami's alien heritage, even confirmed by Toriyama. He had them communicate in an alien language because he'd already gotten the idea and wanted to plant the seeds early.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I had figured that Piccolo and Kami's (Shen's) conversation in their match at the 23rd TB which was revealed to later have been the Namekian language by Bulma when repairing the latter's ship was Toriyama more or less setting up the eventual reveal of Planet Namek and it's people therein, and the anime only compounds this point further by having the sky turn green and the symbols which pop up (in the Japanese version, the FUNi dub just had them speaking in modulated/filtered voices without the actual language itself) as the two are speaking with nobody else there able to understand what they're saying. Plus of course the reveal that Kami is in fact an alien from another world. So, we can gather by the 23rd Budokai that Toriyama had the idea in his head as he was planning for what would become the Z portion of the manga.

[SupremeKai25]

Goku Black's real identity was heavily foreshadowed throughout the arc. His dialogue made it clear that he was neither a Saiyan nor a mortal, as he referred to them as a separate groups and didn't include himself in them. He once told Trunks that he had watched the universes from a higher perspective; we know since DBZ that Supreme Kais possess magical crystal devices that allow them to see planets from above. And ofc he had a Time Ring, Gowasu stated clearly that only Supreme Kais could use them. Finally, he often referred to his body as "this body", not "my body", which always implied that, whatever Black was, the body he was using wasn't his original form. All things considered, the writers did a fantastic job at foreshadowing Goku's Black's real identity as an alternate Zamasu in Goku's body.

The resolution of the arc was also foreshadowed heavily in ep.55, where Goku was given the Zeno button, a button that allowed him to summon Zeno whenever he wanted. Goku promising Zeno that he'll get him a friend is foreshadowing for Future Zeno coming to the Present timeline.

Lastly, Infinite Zamasu was heavily foreshadowed during Fused Zamasu's debut, when he said "My form is justice and my form is the world". As Gowasu explains, Infinite Zamasu is Zamasu's spirit trying to become part of the very fabric of the world and becoming the very manifestation of justice.

I guess that Toppo repeatedly being praised as an Hakaishin apprentice is foreshadowing for his eventual transformation. And the appearance of Sidra's Hakai orb against Frieza is foreshadowing for Toppo's future abilities.

These are the main foreshadowing points that come to mind from Super.

[TheGreatness25]

The story has been telling us about Gohan since the very beginning, but nobody wanted to listen. Gohan said he wanted to be a great scholar, there was mention that he was a lot different than Goku, he was afraid to fight, he was forced to fight against his will, he wanted to be a normal person doing normal things (like going to high school), and he never once showed any interest in being the strongest. But... people complain that he turned out exactly how he was presented from day one.

Chi-Chi was foreshadowed to marry Goku. Though, it did kind of seem forced and tacked on. "Oh, well, I guess we're getting married now"

Vegeta was foreshadowed to always be in competition with Goku from the moment they fought.

Piccolo was foreshadowed to be a protagonist just based on how different he was from Piccolo Daimaō.

I don't know if any of this counts, to be honest.

[MasenkoHA]

The story has been telling us about Gohan since the very beginning, but nobody wanted to listen. Gohan said he wanted to be a great scholar, there was mention that he was a lot different than Goku, he was afraid to fight, he was forced to fight against his will, he wanted to be a normal person doing normal things (like going to high school), and he never once showed any interest in being the strongest. But... people complain that he turned out exactly how he was presented from day one..

I think a lot of that is because the anime upped Chi Chi's tiger mom characterization and added additional scenes of Gohan sneaking away from studying to train and go on adventures. It gave fans the impression that Chi Chi forced the scholar ambition on Gohan and he really wanted to be a fighter like his dad.

[LoganForkHands73]

In most cases, it feels more like Chekhov's Gun situations at play rather than genuine foreshadowing, though I guess there isn't a huge difference. Piccolo and Kami being aliens was definitely foreshadowing, but stuff like Gohan's potential was vague enough that it could be applied to any point in the story where he steps up to fight.

The anime staff tended to include more foreshadowing when there originally was none, like Goku getting a random premonition about Kuririn's death, probably cause the writers at Toei were more, uh, "conventional" storytellers than Toriyama.

Modern Dragon Ball material has had much more prior planning, so I'm more willing to consider examples like Whis's time-rewinding powers, Zamasu's identity and Zeno's interest in a second (and maybe third) inter-universe tournament as genuine foreshadowing.

[Xeogran]

This is out of universe, but ever since I saw this cup noodle art of DBS Goku and Vegeta doing the Fusion Dance, I had the feeling that Gogeta would appear in Super. And woo behold, a few years later he did! Could be a coincidence, or maybe someone at Toei was planning for his inclusion ever since then. Who knows!

[coola]

The Saiyans arc ends with the Freeza arc starting right after, but nothing during the Saiyans arc foreshadows that a horned small alien guy with a army would be the villain in the next arc, and that he would want the dragon balls..

Kaio mentioned, that killing Vegeta won't get rid of "true evil"

Namek Saga: Freeza and Guru mention Super Saiyan, and it's supposed to be pretty big deal, being only thing that Freeza, being who towers over Vegeta power wise, is afraid of...

[ABED]

Isn't there a difference between foreshadowing and a set up?

[LoganForkHands73]

Kaio mentioned, that killing Vegeta won't get rid of "true evil"

Namek Saga: Freeza and Guru mention Super Saiyan, and it's supposed to be pretty big deal, being only thing that Freeza, being who towers over Vegeta power wise, is afraid of...

Another moment during the Saiyan arc is Kuririn mentioning that he has an idea of how to resurrect everyone without Piccolo/Kami, which sets the events of the following arc into motion.

Toriyama has a weird relationship with foreshadowing. As much as he does like to improvise, I think there's rarely been a time in the original run where he was completely without a plan; the Buu arc is probably the closest example of him freewheeling all the way. There are times where he plants seeds subtly and others where he seems to almost purposefully botch any sense of mystery by throwing in exposition where it's not needed, e.g. Cell telling Piccolo his entire backstory. Half the time, I believe that's more for his own benefit than the reader's so he can keep track of his own plot in case it gets out of control, which it definitely did by the Cell arc. Tellingly, after a load of padding with Cell's endless island adventure, he sprinkles more foreshadowing about Goku's plans for Gohan when he gives himself enough time to figure out where exactly the plot's going after Cell gets his perfection.

If you look at the Super manga, you can see Toyotaro doing the same habits. The Granolah arc has a loooooong stretch of padding that doesn't really go anywhere and I get the feeling that's where he was panicking about finding a decent way to wrap up the storyline.

[goku the krump dancer]

Isn't there a difference between foreshadowing and a set up?

One is necessary (Set up) while the other isnt (foreshadowing).

I'd say Piccolo's death in the Saiyan was a set up for them to travel through space and discover more about his alien race while Kaio's statement about their being a true evil besides Vegeta at the end of the arc was a slight foreshadowing to Freeza.

[Anonymous Friend]

In most cases, it feels more like Chekhov's Gun situations at play rather than genuine foreshadowing, though I guess there isn't a huge difference.

Chekhov's Gun is more or less an unrelated thing that turns out to be very useful later on. Foreshadowing is a type of build up where you provide the the seed of something that you return to later and find existing. Foreshadowing usually isn't a quick turn around. Vegeta babbling on about him and Goku being possible Super Saiyans, then a little bit later Goku becomes one isn't really foreshadowing. I also wouldn't call Ma jr and Kami speaking a weird language a foreshadow for them being aliens, especially when the series hadn't even brought up the idea of aliens.

[ABED]

In most cases, it feels more like Chekhov's Gun situations at play rather than genuine foreshadowing, though I guess there isn't a huge difference.

Chekhov's Gun is more or less an unrelated thing that turns out to be very useful later on. Foreshadowing is a type of build up where you provide the the seed of something that you return to later and find existing. Foreshadowing usually isn't a quick turn around. Vegeta babbling on about him and Goku being possible Super Saiyans, then a little bit later Goku becomes one isn't really foreshadowing. I also wouldn't call Ma jr and Kami speaking a weird language a foreshadow for them being aliens, especially when the series hadn't even brought up the idea of aliens.

Chekhov's Gun isn't about a seemingly unrelated thing that gets paid off later. It's essentially a rule to writers that EVERYTHING you write has importance. If you plant a seed, it needs to be harvested by the end. If you show a gun, it better go off by the end, otherwise why put it there? An unrelated thing that gets paid off later is an example of Chekhov's Gun.

As Krump pointed out, foreshadowing isn't necessary but can tell us about the future often in an ironic way.

Set up/Chekov's Gun - "Make fists with your toes" in Die Hard. Back to the Future is a master class at set ups and payoffs. Why does Marty know the exact time and place clocktower was struck? Because he kept the flyer his girlfriend wrote the phone number to her grandmother's house because she wouldn't be home later. Marty just never got around to taking it out of his pocket.

Foreshadowing - In Shaun of the Dead, when Shaun and Ed's roommate is woken up, he yells at Ed something like "You wanna live like an animal, then live in the shed" which is what happens at the end of the movie. There are things like that all throughout the entire Cornetto Trilogy.

The weird language in DB might cross the line of both, but it's certainly a set up to payoff down the road.

I think you have that reversed.

[nineko]

I also wouldn't call Ma jr and Kami speaking a weird language a foreshadow for them being aliens, especially when the series hadn't even brought up the idea of aliens.

Actually, both Oolong and Sergeant Metallic identified Goku as an alien.

[GokuHater]

I also wouldn't call Ma jr and Kami speaking a weird language a foreshadow for them being aliens, especially when the series hadn't even brought up the idea of aliens.

Actually, both Oolong and Sergeant Metallic identified Goku as an alien.

That's not entirely true.
Sg Metallic scene is an anime only and I believe the explanation was that the 'alien' word meant alien to him, as in life force vs a robot.
No mention of any alien in the manga.

While Ulong did say that in the first arc it was less foreshadowing and more of his genuine disbelief "what is he, an alien?" and given this was almost entirely after first Oozaru, it's understandable.

Foreshadowing Goku being an alien is more possible in Piccolo Daimao arc, where they have such conversation.
-How? No human could have survived it!!!
-Heh heh, maybe I'm not a human. I do have a tail after all...

[ABED]

I would consider Oolong's line unintentional foreshadowing. Toriyama likely didn't know about Goku's alien origin at that point but the implication is clearly that Goku is unique and no one knows where he's from and why he was able to turn into a were-monkey. Foreshadowing doesn't have to be intentional to fall into that category. That said, I think this thread is asking for examples of intentional foreshadowing.

Metallic's line falls into a similar category. Yes, he's saying he's alien/foreign to him, but his statement is more accurate in ways neither of them know yet.